Facing the future Language educators across Europe

Transcription

1 Facing the future Language educators across Europe Véronique Dupuis Frank Heyworth Ksenija Leban Margit Szesztay Teresa Tinsley European Centre for Modern Languages Council of Europe Publishing

2 French edition : Face à l avenir Les enseignants en langues à travers l Europe ISBN All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic (CD-Rom, Internet, etc.) or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or any information storage or retrieval system, without the prior permission in writing from the Publishing Division, Communication and Research Directorate (Council of Europe, F Strasbourg cedex, publishing@coe.int). The opinions expressed in this publication are not to be regarded as reflecting the policy of any government, of the Committee of Ministers or the Secretary General of the Council of Europe. Cover: Gross Werbeagentur, Graz Layout: Kordik+Stenner, Graz Printer: Bachernegg, Kapfenberg Council of Europe Publishing F Strasbourg cedex ISBN Council of Europe, September 2003

3 Preface This book is one outcome of a project of the European Centre for Modern Languages on the future of language education and its impact on teachers, their initial training and continued professional development. It is based on an initial think tank in 1999 and on two workshops held in Graz in 2001 and The ideas and views of the participants have informed and influenced the work and teachers voices are to be heard in the many quotations from them throughout the work. The project team wishes to thank them for their vital contribution to it. The project team came from different backgrounds and professional environments. Teresa Tinsley is responsible for Communications and Publications in CILT the Centre for Information on Language Teaching in London; Ksenija Leban is a free lance interpreter and teacher in Ljublana; Véronique Dupuis is Director of the Eurocentres school in La Rochelle; Margit Szesztay works in teacher education at CETT, the Centre for English Teacher Training in Budapest; and Frank Heyworth is secretary general of EAQUALS. The range of local and professional background is reflected in the book, with different angles and spotlights on the core issues of the future of language education and the impact of this on the profession of language educator. 3

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5 Contents Preface 3 Introduction A new paradigm for language education Frank Heyworth 7 Part One: An agenda for language education 15 Chapter One: The intercultural framework 17 Section One: Linguistic and intercultural diversity for Europe Véronique Dupuis 17 Section Two: Language policies for a multicultural society Teresa Tinsley 39 Chapter Two: Language education for individual development Teresa Tinsley 51 Intermezzo Teachers voices 63 Part Two: Profession Language educator 67 Chapter Three: The professional profile of language educators Ksenija Leban 69 Chapter Four: Knowledge and resources for language educators Frank Heyworth 101 Chapter Five: Initial teacher education A developmental approach Margit Szesztay 107 Conclusion 119 The challenge of quality Frank Heyworth 119 Appendices 125 Questionnaires on teachers roles & analyses of results Sarolta Berke 125 Teachers facing the future Questionnaire 127 Teachers voices Questionnaire for interviews 129 Teachers voices Analyses of the open ended questionnaires 131 The jobs, roles and tasks of language educators Results of a questionnaire 141 Bibliography 153 5

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7 Introduction A new paradigm for language education Frank Heyworth Aims and objectives! To propose a possible new paradigm for language education, emphasising the key contribution language teachers could make (a) to foster the development of a multi-cultural society and intercultural competence, and (b) to explore the educative role of language teachers;! to reflect on how this broader view of the objectives of language education could be put into practice;! to obtain a personalised, living description of the variety of jobs language teachers do, the roles they fulfil, the knowledge and skills they need, and the issues they face now, and to predict how these might change in the next 5 to 10 years;! to promote discussion and debate on the implications of the above for teacher education programmes and for language education policies in general. A new paradigm for language education? A key question in this study of future needs for teacher education is the exploration of the need for innovation. Will teachers continue broadly to do what they have always done? in which case future needs will be organisational and logistic, making better provision within existing parameters. Or will the nature of the job of language edu- 7

8 cators change so that a new paradigm for the profession will be required? 1 If so, what new elements will affect their work? In the first chapter, Teresa Tinsley has raised the issue of the kind of language education appropriate to a multi-lingual society how can the needs for effective communication be met? What contribution can language educators make towards the development of a harmonious, tolerant mixed society. She suggests that the present pattern, teaching one major European language usually English outside the Englishspeaking world quite well, with another European language taught ineffectively as a second foreign language does not correspond to the realities of present day society. In Margit Szesztay s contribution, the role of the language educator has been defined very broadly; in addition to the task of teaching communicative language skills which will remain the core task she has defined a set of other areas where language teachers have a privileged position compared to teachers of other subjects and which give them opportunities to include activities which promote the individual development of the learner, both as learners and as people, and which can encourage awareness of issues important to society. So, do we need a new paradigm for language education? To consider the issue, we need to explore the principles and parameters we apply to language teaching now, and to see what new features will arise if we define the aims in a different and broader way. Language teachers and those who decide on curricula and resources today seem to me to work with a number of explicit and implicit assumptions, concerning:! What languages are taught in schools, with what objectives?! What didactic and methodological approach is used?! What is the content of language teaching what do language learners and teachers talk and read about? I will try to look at each of these and suggest how far present principles provide an adequate basis for the future. 1 It may be helpful to look at innovation in the light of Kuhn's theories of paradigm change. Although Kuhn was talking about scientific change and was wary about the applicability of his theories to social sciences, it is still useful to consider whether language education is in a period of normal scientific progress or in a period of crisis. Kuhn describes a paradigm as a set of principles and rules broadly accepted by the scientific or professional group involved in a field of activity. During periods, which he defines as normal, scientific activity is concerned with refining the principles and rules, developing new instruments to apply them more effectively and using them to resolve problems and puzzles. In periods of crisis, the accepted rules and principles seem no longer to provide a reliable basis for continued activity in scientific research they no longer explain the observed facts satisfactorily; typically new discoveries propose a new paradigm which usually meets great resistance, but, once accepted, becomes the norm which is elaborated and developed. Kuhn defines these moments as scientific revolutions. 8

9 What languages are taught in schools, with what objectives? Extract from a policy paper produced for the Council of Europe in Guide for the development of language education policies in Europe From Linguistic Diversity to Plurilingual Education 1 Policy responses to multilingualism lie between two ends of a continuum of attitudes and approaches: on the one hand policy for the reduction of diversity, and on the other the promotion and maintenance of diversity. Both can be pursued in the name of improved potential for international mobility, of intercomprehension and of economic development. The Council of Europe and its member States have taken the position that it is the promotion of linguistic diversity, which should be pursued in language education policy. For in addition to mobility, intercomprehension and economic development, there is the further important aim of maintaining the European cultural heritage, of which linguistic diversity is a significant constituent. This means, then, that language teaching must be seen as the development of a unique individual linguistic competence ( knowing languages whichever they may be) and also as education for linguistic tolerance. Policies for language education should therefore promote the learning of several languages for all individuals in the course of their lives, so that Europeans become plurilingual and intercultural citizens, able to interact with other Europeans in all aspects of their lives. What would be the impact of the application of the Council of Europe s proposals for a plurilingual and pluricultural approach to language education? Outside the English-speaking countries, English is the first main language taught and learnt. It is becoming more and more an international lingua franca, learnt for practical reasons for travel, for work in international companies, to have access to the Internet and scientific and technical literature. This means that it makes sense to learn and teach it in a communicative way, that a relatively high level of competence is required and that the presence of the language in the environment will give a lot of opportunity for acquisition and learning outside the classroom. There is no specific need to relate the study of the international version of the language to the culture and civilisation of English-speaking countries, and the rationale for keeping English as the core language only applies as long as it is not replaced by Arabic, Chinese or Spanish as the major international language. Typically in Europe, students learn a second foreign language. This raises a number of questions why a second language, and not a third, fourth or fifth? What level of competence is feasible, or desirable? Is it to be learnt for a sub-set of the communicative aims applied to the learning of a lingua franca? If the objectives are 1 See Byram, Michael and Jean-Claude Beacco, Guide for the Development of Language Education Policies in Europe (executive version), Council of Europe, Strasbourg, April 2003, p. 9. 9

10 partial competences which ones, and to what level? Should the aims concentrate on the receptive skills and leave productive skills aside? Why is the second language usually another western European language? What should be the place of the heritage languages? At another level, we need to ask what the over-riding aims of language education are. Possible aims could include:! the development of European citizenship, with an educated European understanding several languages, able to study and travel in many countries, knowledgeable about and with respect for many different nationalities and national cultures;! the conviction that knowing different languages is a powerful factor in intellectual development, encouraging open-mindedness and flexibility, contributing to the development of other skills;! the commitment to life-long language learning, accepting that it is unlikely that schools can predict exactly which languages their students are going to need, and that therefore the aim should be to train them to become good language learners, capable of acquiring the particular languages as they meet the need for them;! the idea that language study offers opportunities to acquire independence and autonomy as learners, that it can be learnt in ways which encourage co-operation and other social values. These aims can be combined with present approaches to language education, but it would be naïve to suppose that we can approach future needs with the simple assumption that we will be teaching the same languages for the same reasons and to the same levels as we do now. What didactic and methodological approach is used? Communicative methodology and beyond First a personal note; when I started teaching English in the 1960s, the job was perceived as relatively simple. Teachers taught grammar and structure and the language input was to illustrate structural patterns. The structural competence was complemented by applied use in the form of structural dialogues and the instructional method used drilling to establish automatisms of correct language use. The choice of materials to be used was limited to a preference for the red or green cover of the two available coursebooks. Several methodological revolutions later, the job has in theory become much more complex. In addition to training in structural competence, teachers are expected to be aware of (and have read about them in the Common European Framework) socio- 10

11 linguistic, intercultural and pragmatic competences; linguistic competence is defined in much more detail and teachers must cope with developing lexical and prosodic skills. A variety of didactic approaches have developed, including PPP presentation, practice and production or doing this in reverse order with a task-based approach ESA, for engage, study, activate. The importance of cognitive and reflective approaches is now better understood, and the need to create a learning environment, which gives affective support is realised. This isn t a nostalgic wish that everything was not so complex, so much as a realisation that it is difficult for teachers to develop an operationally effective didactic approach, one which can be translated into the practical decisions about syllabus and lesson plans. It is not surprising that many teachers adopt an eclectic approach. At its best, this means being able to apply a wide range of didactic approaches, according to individual or group needs; teachers are able to involve learners in decisions on content and approach, to encourage learner autonomy and negotiate syllabus. Unfortunately, it can also lead to choosing not quite at random whatever activity will keep the class busily or happily occupied. In this context, it is clear that we cannot propose additional tasks for the language teacher related to multi-lingualism, intercultural competence, the development of autonomous learning etc. unless this can be accompanied with a workable didactic and methodological set of approaches. What is the content of language teaching What do language learners and teachers talk and read about? It is suggested that there is a unique feature, which makes language teaching different from other subject areas; because its main priority is to teach a means of communication, there is great freedom, especially in general language courses, to choose the content of what is being communicated. Typical choices have been:! Teaching about the country or countries where the target language is spoken Landeskunde. The reasons for doing this include the conviction that it is impossible to use a foreign language well without knowledge of the culture it stems from; that the language expresses a particular individual world picture and that the ideal learner will assimilate this to the extent of achieving native speaker competence. In many cases the argument for learning one language rather than another has been that the society it represents has particular cultural values English for democracy, German for scientific rigour, French for philosophy.1 This often embodied in the past a stereotyped representation of the target culture, such 1 See Neuner, Gerhard, in Sociocultural Competence in Language Learning and Teaching, Council of Europe,

12 as the nostalgic picture of France populated by cyclists with berets and baguettes under the arm and an England of moustachioed businessmen with bowler hats. The representation is/was very often strongly influenced by the self-image of the culture of the learner.! Teaching the literature of the target culture the rationale for this is very similar to the previous one; it s worth learning the language in order to have access to the summits of its civilisation, as represented by the great writers. Implicitly this sets the targets for linguistic competence very high, since very sophisticated language knowledge is needed to appreciate, say, Racine in the original.! Language teaching for everyday life the content of the language course imagines the learner either as a traveller to a target language country or as someone living or studying there. This frequently reflects reality and allows the teacher to choose topics and examples of language, which reflect everyday life and natural use of language.! Choosing the contents of the language lessons to reflect topics of general interest to the learner and to involve his/her ideas and points of view topics such as the protection of the environment and other social and economic issues. This forms a natural focus of communicative language learning, implying that if you want to learn to communicate in a foreign language you will want to talk about the same things that you talk about in your own country. All of these choices of approach are justifiable; it is natural that language teaching should reflect value judgements like those implicit in the first two, and common sense is the basis of the last two. Nevertheless if we look at the needs of teacher educators in the future it makes sense to examine other possible aims and approaches: # The development of general language learning competence as a step to encouraging plurilingualism This would mean changing the focus of language learning programmes so that the objective is not just to teach a particular language, but to train learners to become good language learners, capable of assessing their needs and wishes in relation to languages they want to learn and to choose their approach to acquiring these skills. They would be aware of the concept of partial competences, of the difference between receptive and productive skills; they would have strategies for deciding whether they needed, for example, simple travel survival language or advanced reading skills without much or any competence in the spoken language. It would involve the integration of reflection about language learning into the activities in language programmes. Language awareness programmes and courses teaching a number of languages from the same family could complement or replace the teaching of single languages. 12

13 # The development of intercultural awareness as a prerequisite for tolerance and respect for other cultures In order to do this, cultural differences and the notion of otherness would need to be integrated into the subject matter of language learning. It would involve going beyond the kind of stereotypes often communicated in language courses; a topic-based approach to language education could include language awareness programmes 1 for young children where learning about the differences among languages is used as an approach to awareness of the concept of difference and acceptance of otherness in general. At advanced levels language education could include some of the techniques of anthropological approaches to enquiry into cultural identity and difference 2. And in mainstream language education there are many examples of the use of comparison and contrast to raise learners awareness of their own cultural pre-conceptions and identity, while learning to appreciate other ways of looking at the world. There would be dangers in this approach; of trying to do amateur social engineering, of supposing language teachers not to be affected by intercultural prejudice, perhaps of assuming that knowing someone else s language automatically promotes understanding and respect. There would need to be much more usable description of cultural differences and intercultural competences, to achieve teachability linked to successful language learning. However, I do not think we can make strong arguments for a crucial place of language education in general education without addressing seriously how this could be done with success. # The development of general learning skills through the promotion of reflective approaches to the task of learning a language Recent developments in approaches to language learning and teaching, and into teacher education have stressed the importance of reflective approaches to the development of expertness. The combination of systematic learning and integrating knowledge and skills in a way that allows skills to be applied intuitively with an approach which stresses reflection and self-awareness as tools for continuous development is not of course specifically related to language learning. Nevertheless, the fact that medium and message are so closely linked when one is learning a language provides a special opportunity for developing reflective techniques producing a learner diary is also an opportunity for using the language one is learning. 1 See Michel Candelier, Introduction of language awareness into the curriculum, ECML Project no ( ) < < 2 See Roberts, Celia, Language and cultural issues in innovation: the European dimension, in Rea- Dickins and Germaine (eds.), Managing Evaluation and Innovation in Language Teaching, 1998, where the application of anthropological concepts is shown to give an extra dimension of intercultural enquiry to undergraduates on their year abroad. 13

14 The argument here is that language teaching and learning can and should be exemplary it s probably true to say that language teaching, perhaps especially for the teaching of English has paid more attention to didactics in general and to methodics in particular. There is no literature I could find about the good geography or history learner ; the good language learner is well documented and could be a springboard to developing good learning approaches. This is not assuming that one learns everything in the same way as one learns languages, but a reflective approach would equip learners with the self-awareness required for intelligent application to other areas. In the section above I have tried to make very strong statements of a potentially key place for language education in general education as a vector of social values and a privileged position for it in the development of the individual. They may seem idealistically optimistic, but in the context of questioning of the worth of language teaching in many contexts and a perception of low prestige and status for the profession (see the questionnaire results in the Appendix) it is important not to trivialise the potentiality. 14

15 Part One: An agenda for language education

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17 Chapter One: The intercultural framework Section One: Linguistic and intercultural diversity for Europe Véronique Dupuis An initial inventory Cultural and linguistic diversity is present throughout our daily life, whether when we enter a classroom or an office, or are at the factory, in the worlds of work or leisure, or in verbal, artistic, musical or sporting exchanges. But while many of us have today accepted this diversity, has it really been transformed into a linguistic and cultural wealth has it become a cultural and linguistic capital in the sense meant by Bourdieu, to communicate is to update social and cultural items through linguistic behaviour. Following the European Year of Languages, can teachers of foreign languages and all the experts in the teaching and learning of languages and cultures really claim that the construction of the Europe of languages is already under way? This construction must apparently be effected while respecting multiple and differing identities, but how is it possible, in an active process of discovering, listening and enlarging our ethnocentric points of view, to bring together all these languages that exist alongside each other and are interwoven within one country and that accompany our journeys and movements, stimulating and arousing our curiosity? If we attempt to make a quick inventory and cast our eye over the last few years, there is no denying that many international projects, conferences and encounters have contributed to the establishment of new programmes and tools, of new stages in the didactic and methodological reflection aimed at defining new points of focus for linguistic policies. And we cannot but repeat what many experts have stated as being the initial consensus, namely that the linguistic question is today thoroughly at the forefront of the global educational scene. 1 1 Poth, Joseph, L éloge du plurilinguisme, in Courrier de l'unesco, April

18 The stages that have characterised the last few years 1987: Creation of Linguapax following the World Congress on Linguistic Policies at the initiative of Unesco. Its function is to promote policies that protect linguistic variety and that encourage the learning of a number of languages in the conviction that the respect of linguistic communities constitutes one of the factors for peace and that in a context of multiple linguistic contacts, learning a language can be a means towards intercultural understanding. 1994: Creation of the European Centre for Modern Languages. The Centre s mission is to support the implementation of language policies and to encourage initiatives and innovations in the field of the learning and teaching of foreign languages within the framework of cultural cooperation, while respecting linguistic and cultural variety in Europe. 1999: 69 countries presented a draft resolution for the respect of multilingualism to the General Assembly of the United Nations. 2000: Establishment of the European Language Portfolio (ELP) by the Council of Europe. This document allows the linguistic skills and the cultural experiences acquired by its holder during learning periods in an institutional or natural environment to be recorded in three documents. 1. The language passport Identical for every member state of the Council of Europe. It confirms the level of communicative skills within the Common European Framework of Reference. 2. The language biography Also called the learner s travel diary. The holder can enter each of his learning stages. 3. The dossier A selection of material chosen by the learner to document or illustrate his progress : The Socrates II action programme of the Community sets itself two new objectives: 1. The encouragement of life-long learning and training for teachers of modern languages 2. The development of a Europe of knowledge through co-operation and mobility in education 18

19 2001: The Council of Europe and the European Union together with Unesco organise The European Year of Languages 2002: World Congress on Linguistic Policies at Barcelona 2003: The Unesco General Conference has just approved four resolutions in favour of linguistic variety and multilingual education. All of these European programmes, developed over the course of the years, and the implementation of all of these projects and pedagogical tools have the aim of making language teachers and public opinion aware of the educational mission of the teaching of foreign languages and the socio-cultural dimension of communication and cooperation. 1 Cultural and linguistic variety versus the paradoxes of the teaching/ learning of foreign languages However, is it not paradoxical that it is precisely at the time when so many projects are being set up, when so many activities with the same objective are being implemented, that a deep gap is developing between the awareness of the experts about the benefits of the learning of a plurality of languages and that of their interlocutors parents, pupils, students and learners all those who would be able to give meaning to all this activity? Is it a paradox or the result of linguistic policies that have failed to provide sufficiently clearly defined guidance, because of the absence of a more voluntary and better co-ordinated attitude amongst the different actors, experts on the ground, and within the hierarchical and institutional frameworks? As an illustration of this paradox, let us take the example of the teaching/learning of German in France. January 2003 was the 40 th anniversary of the Elysée Treaty between France and Germany following the second world war a major political and symbolic act intended to mark the co-operation agreement between the two countries. In order to transform these words into actions, the Franco-German Office for Young People 2 was established, a two-headed institution set up in Paris and Berlin. Since its creation, countless projects have enabled encounters and linguistic and cultural exchanges within the framework of associations, school, universities, sports and the professions. However, what is the situation today? The latest figures reflect the extent of the crisis that the teaching/learning of German is undergoing. When choosing a first foreign 1 Baumgratz-Gangl, Gisela, Compétence transculturelle et échanges éducatifs, Hachette, OFAJ: Office Franco-Allemand pour la Jeunesse, established in July 5, 1953, provides financial, pedagogic and linguistic support to young people s exchanges carried out by youth and popular education associations, sports clubs, language centres, training centres, trade union and professional organisations, school and university establishments, local authorities and twinning committees. 19

20 language, only 8% of pupils select German (with 78% selecting English). However, in an opinion poll carried out in Germany and in France, 58% of the population think that Franco-German relationships play a decisive role for each of the two countries, and that it seemed important to get to know each other better by means of the languages and the cultures. These figures show clearly that a programme of exchanges and encounters, a shared desire to discover the language and the culture of the other are unable to stem the decline in learner numbers. In attempting to find explanations, the replies reflect various points of view: 1. The fear, the concern in the face of a language that is said to be difficult because of its structure and its phonology. 2. Advice given in the family or by other learners or by friends to avoid a path strewn with obstacles. For several years, it has been noticed that the choice of the language within one family evolves. For the youngest children, the criteria for choice are made in terms of ease or of profitability, the choice tending to be in favour of a language closer to the linguistic family of the mother tongue and hence less difficult to learn. 3. The advice given by teachers to parents in the light of all the child s school results as a means of directing it towards one or other language. In this way, the choice of learning a foreign language has the aim of setting up a so-called network of excellence, as was the case for German in France. Beginning German as first foreign language was to be reserved to good pupils capable of familiarising themselves quickly with a language, which, like Latin, has a system of declensions. Thus the classes in German were intended to take over the role of Latin classes. Hence it is not surprising that a few years later German classes in turn suffered the same downturn, having refused, when there was still time, to open themselves to a larger number. 4. The choice of the first foreign language can be made at primary school. Is it possible to help children to make their choice if one can only talk to them in terms of a future curriculum vitae that will be more appreciated and more effective when starting university studies or beginning professional life. Such a long-term projection has very few links to the child s or the adolescent s immediate reality. 5. The status of the language in its historic and cultural image within the family or the circle of friends is also seen as being a decisive factor. This image has been created over time, communicated by the media, the social and family tradition, and by the stereotypes that abound about this different language and culture. 6. Nevertheless, it is the cultural image that can be the starting point towards the linguistic image. Of the cultural and linguistic images, which is the end and which is the means? The images or knowledge about the culture of the other can prove to be the first stages towards the choice of a language or other languages, these images help to trigger interest or motivation, while, conversely, the linguistic 20

21 image can also lead towards a choice. A child may want to learn a language that is very distant from the graphic and phonological system of its mother tongue, and it is precisely towards this complexity, this mystery that it wishes to direct its attention, while at the same time having no interest whatsoever in the country. What can be proposed for the teaching and learning of foreign languages? These few examples prove that when a language is being chosen it could easily be forgotten that, beyond all criteria of profitability or utility, time must be taken to allow a reflection to develop, to permit children to become more acquainted with the different languages and their history by integrating within the curriculum a discovery of regional and foreign languages and cultures that pursues the following objectives: 1. inclusion of regional languages through their history and their current reality; 2. inclusion of current multilingualism and multiculturalism within the classroom by providing space to the multiple linguistic and cultural identities of the children, their parents and indeed their grandparents; 3. inclusion of the encounter with associations, institutions and personalities that work towards the discovery and promulgation of regional and international languages and cultures, thereby developing tolerance amongst the mosaic of the communities; 4. encouragement of encounters within the school of multilingual and multicultural manifestations; 5. making known the institutions which at a European level defend and protect cultural and multilingual diversity and the organisations that will permit learners throughout their lives to encounter languages and cultures and participate in an exchange, helping them to implement a study or professional project or by providing financial support for it. All these stages would enable a large number of different languages and cultures to be brought into the classroom, with the result that what we know about the importance of multilingual learning in our multicultural society will not remain a knowledge and know-how reserved to the experts, allowing everyone to form his opinion knowing that: 1. there are in the world as many bilingual children as monolingual children, and that two thirds of mankind is multilingual, in other words that monolingualism is the exception; 2. a language will remain in danger as long as it is not introduced into an educational system or programme; 21

22 3. if each parent is at ease in his or her culture and desires to make it known, the child will have no problem in identifying itself with this culture and in living a family bilingualism and biculturalism, from which it could then proceed towards other languages; 4. monolingualism encloses us in a reductive vision of the world that surrounds us but also involves the risk of generalising a monolingualism that tends to dominate; 5. the linguistic insecurity of parents speaking languages considered to be minority languages that are not lived or expressed outside the family framework contributes to reinforcing the insecurity of the children in their school learning. By integrating the languages spoken in the family environment, it is not a question of producing young geniuses but rather of permitting the children to develop the multilingual and multicultural potential that surrounds them, of helping them to acquire the language and culture of their family. It is thus a question of developing and beginning as early as possible what George Lüdi of the University of Basle has called an educational language policy 1 by defining the following framework:! beginning the learning of languages and cultures earlier, at the latest at primary school;! not aiming at bilingualism but at multiple multilingual repertoires, at a level of skills allowing the individual to satisfy the different communication needs;! creating bridges between the mother tongue and the second languages, in other words an integrated pedagogy of languages;! introducing into the learning curriculum the preparation of the learners for different forms of exo-linguistic interaction, developing their autonomy, the learning contexts within the school and post-school framework throughout the learner s lifetime;! giving the teaching of foreign languages in primary school the status of a discipline, responsibility for which is assumed by skilled contributors trained in the didactics of languages and cultures so as to reinforce the credibility of this teaching amongst the children, the parents and the teachers at secondary level. What is learnt must be taken into account in order to permit the learner to continue an uninterrupted chain when he or she arrives in secondary school. 1 Lüdi, Georges, L'enfant bilingue: charge ou surcharge?, University of Basle, Sprachkonzept Schweiz, April

23 The implications of bilingual and multilingual teaching At the time of the implementation of the European currency, once the period of reflection, of moral, political and legislative commitment was passed, each country developed a number of measures to ensure that this change was made known, understood and accepted so that, when the time came, everything would proceed well. However, when it is a question of the multilingual linguistic heritage, the word is too frequently left to the experts in the different professional sectors, while the public, the users, everyone in search of training, of a project, whether parents, children, adolescents or business decision-makers, feel themselves somewhat powerless as to the places to address and the places of discussion that might enable them to know where, how and with whom they could find the appropriate responses in order to construct and nourish their reflection and to guide their choices and decisions. If we take the example of a couple with a bicultural and bilingual identity, the birth of a child will give rise to the question of the language or languages of communication within the family, of the transmission of the binational cultural indicators. Often, the parents fear that bilingual education will have a negative effect on the development of the child, particularly when it enters school, that bilingualism is a brake on successful integration or that it is the source of conflicts in a social or educational environment that refuses to tolerate a different language that it does not know or over which it does not have a command. Faced with this question, who can this couple turn to? What kind of communication structure will allow them to speak about their situation and all its corollaries for the construction of identity for the family and each of its members? Is the school capable of providing the replies to the parents whatever their language and socio-economic context? However, if one considers multilingualism as an increasingly urgent necessity in the huge economic and cultural market that the European Union is in the course of constructing, it is clear that the increasing number of linguistically mixed marriages is one of the keys to the future of Europe these unions quite simply represent a promise of the spread of multilingualism in Europe. 1 It is thus necessary to develop communication structures, places of information and exchange outside the school framework to ensure equality of opportunities for everyone within bilingual or multilingual families. It is without doubt here that local politics and linguistic policies cross each other s paths. Moreover, how do school institutions or educational systems take into account the bilingualism and the bi- or multiculturality of the child during its school life, and particularly during language courses? Have the teachers been trained to apply their competence to these increasingly frequent situations? 1 Le bilinguisme, mythes et réalités, on the website Enfantsbilingues.com < the first French website on bilingualism and languages, April

24 Let us take the example of a child living in France whose mother is Columbian and whose father French. The child does not grow up in equi-bilingualism (equivalent skills in the two languages). It understands Spanish and uses it to communicate orally, while making statements that are frequently incorrect at morphological and lexical level. Within a Spanish class, the situations most frequently arising are the following: 1. the child attempts to conceal its dual linguistic and cultural membership for fear of disclosing its differentness, of having to expose its family situation or of feeling ridiculous as a result of the difficulties that it still encounters in expressing itself correctly; 2. the teacher is informed about the situation or has realised it but makes the child follow the same programme as the other pupils in the class because he/she has neither the time nor the materials to deal with the child more individually. These situations, described frequently by the pupils themselves, by the parents and by the teachers, lead to the following constellation:! the linguistic progress of the child proceeds at a level well below its skills and its linguistic and cultural potential;! the cultural potential present in the class is denied, which leads to a feeling of insecurity and can only be prejudicial to the child s construction of its own identity. However, since an ever-increasing number of families are bilingual or multilingual, bicultural or multicultural, the school system must take into account these situations and propose a positive path. What we might call a denial of languages or of culture is expressed even more strongly for the children whose language or languages spoken at home are not to be found within the school or university curriculum. Our societies, in everyday life de facto multilingual and multicultural, become sadly monolingual once one leaves the security of the home! This means forgetting or denying the symbolic function of language, which enables partners in communicative situations to leave a mark of their being and their membership. 1 However, as Jean-Pierre Cuq rightly reminds us: Multiculturalism is the fact of considering the coexistence of a number of communities as being the constituents of a society and it is no longer possible to ignore what sociolinguists call the identity function of language, which means the fact that participating in a linguistic community implies more or less consciously a cultural position. The latter induces in the second language learner what we can call a learning posture, which may be positive or negative. 1 Cuq, J.P. and I. Gruca, Cours de didactique du français langue étrangère et seconde, Presses Universitaires de Grenoble,

25 The European Year of Languages in 2001 was a powerful springboard, providing so many places of encounter, of exchange of experience, knowledge and know-how for all. Now, this magnificent experiment must be confirmed in practice. This reflection on multilingualism must avoid the pitfall of a new eurocentrism, and instead we must go well beyond our own frontiers. In effect, many languages of the European Union are spoken by majorities around the world English, Spanish, French and Portuguese. Developing the teaching/learning of these languages will thus permit a veritable opening to the world, extending far beyond the European Union, and at least these four languages should be offered for learning from infancy. More and more voices are being raised recalling that the objective at the beginning of this third millennium should be to develop trilingualism 1 :! a mother tongue;! a neighbouring language;! an international language. This classification has the benefit of expanding our reflection on the notion of neighbouring language. Do we mean family neighbourhood, geographical neighbourhood or cultural or even socio-economic neighbourhood? So many tracks to be followed that will allow new languages to enter into the learning path. Towards a European linguistic ecology At present, almost all countries have to face multilingualism and an often difficult form of cohabitation. Throughout the world there are languages for less than 200 constituted countries. India, for instance, has 18 national languages. However, the members of all these countries have always succeeded in communicating by means of diglossia practices, often establishing a prestigious language variety, mastered by a minority, and another language for ordinary activities. One can also observe the creation of contact languages (pidgins, linguae francae, mixtures in conurbations) or the emergence of common languages such as Swahili, which is in the process of replacing English in eastern Africa. Within Europe, a large number of countries, thanks to their history or their linguistic situation, have one, two, three or even four languages existing side by side in daily life: Luxembourg, Switzerland and Belgium are examples, disregarding the daily cohabitation between standard language, regional languages, dialects or patois in Italy, Germany, Austria, United Kingdom, etc. 1 op. cit, Joseph Poth. 25

26 Let us take an example that is perhaps less well known, that of the Val d Aosta with its Special Autonomy Status in Italy. A short historical summary will be sufficient to set the linguistic framework. The Val d Aosta has always been a francophone language and cultural region, and the unification of Italy in 1860 and the history of the 20 th century (first industrialisation and waves of immigration) have created a linguistic and cultural superstructure, so that today the dominant language in the Val d Aosta is Italian, with French having become a minority language. 1 Certain articles of the Special Autonomy Status provide for the teaching/learning of French in all the schools of the region, from nursery school to grammar school, and the long-term objective is a bilingual education well integrated in all the activities. For 25 years, the nursery school project has not been that of teaching French but rather of teaching in French. Today, there is a broad consensus on the idea that the construction of new knowledge can be done sometimes in one language, sometimes in the other, sometimes by alternating between the two, with French just as much as Italian is being used to establish knowledge. This situation is the result of the implementation of a regional educational plan that defines priority objectives. This example illustrates well that, far more than representativeness in statistical figures, it is policies specifically aimed at the maintenance of cultural identity that are conducive to the success of bilingual and indeed multilingual education. We could also present the bilingual learning contexts in Andorra, which have for many years developed bilingual language learning programmes in primary schools by making use of two bilingual teachers. Outside these regional particularities, these examples prove that didactic projects with defined objectives integrated in a linguistic policy that respects current realities and the historical-linguistic past endure beyond all reductive mathematical logic. Language teachers are trained in the didactic of languages and cultures, and their teaching task will amongst other things be to arouse the curiosity of their learners for a language that communicates cultural indicators in order to allow them to decode, understand and interpret better the linguistic and cultural environment of their interlocutors. The teaching/learning of a foreign language is not the acquisition of a single linguistic knowledge but of a plurality of knowledges knowing how to behave and what to do in different national and international contexts. It is therefore not simply the question why a foreign language? but rather a foreign language what for? that should be behind the reflection on teaching/learning cycles, the context in which foreign language teaching is placed and the evaluation and certification applied at various stages of learning, thus doing away with the learning of languages with no ultimate objective. European multilingualism exists in the institutional sense of the word. In fact, the plurality of the eleven languages of the European Union English, German, Danish, 1 Decime, Rita, La formation des enseignants en Vallée d'aoste, in L'enseignement précoce du français langue étrangère, Lidilem,

27 Spanish, French, Greek, Italian, Dutch, Finnish, Portuguese, Swedish plus Gaelic, has been officially recognised. Let us recall that these eleven languages plus one of the European Union represent 370 million people. Up to the present, the Official Journal of the European Communities has always been published in the 11 languages plus Gaelic. This multilingualism also concerns working languages. From now on, we will have to imagine the situation that will arise in 2004 when the European Union will comprise 24 countries. New languages will be present, Czech, Estonian, Hungarian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Maltese, Polish, Slovakian and Slovene. However, for many years now, English, French and German have been the languages most used in internal communications and English predominates in certain fields. This factual situation does not respect the Community s commitment and in the short or medium term threatens nine other languages. No doubt there is no ignoring the arguments that emphasise the financial costs of multilingual translations and the greater speed of exchanges between a number of interlocutors who share one foreign language in common. But what does this mean in terms of the quality of communication, the effectiveness and the precision of the exchanges, of the true comprehension? And above all, what does a rapid projection into the future indicate in terms of the respect for identity and cultural diversity, the very basis of this Community, in 20, 30 or 50 years? Maintaining multilingualism is thus more than ever a course to be followed. C. Truchot readily uses the term European linguistic ecology, recalling that we must reflect on the balances to be created, on what could be a European linguistic ecology, since Europe as a whole possesses a linguistic heritage which, if properly nurtured, would permit Europe both to increase its influence and to unite the peoples within its borders. Multilingualism must thus be constructed on the basis of the results of common and shared reflections in order to define new paths, new fields of application. Claude Hagège 1 proposes in his work a number of threads that are worthy of reflection: 1. to offer a choice of several European languages at primary school; 2. to ensure the respect of the freedom of choice of languages expressed by children and parents without institutional hegemony; 3. to begin the teaching/learning of English from secondary school on; 4. to offer German, Spanish, French, Italian and Portuguese as first modern language at primary school because of their international audience; 5. to give preference to the language of the neighbouring countries a natural choice for future personal, professional or commercial relationships. Thus Italian becomes the language of the neighbour for France, Switzerland, Austria, Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, Albania and Greece; 1 Hagège, Claude, L'enfant aux deux langues, Editions Odile Jacob,